This invention relates generally to a snowboard boot binding. More particularly, it relates to a binding that can be angularly adjusted both quickly and easily without the need for a tool. In one embodiment of the invention, the binding can be angularly adjusted while the rider's boot is still in the binding.
The sport of snowboarding has been practiced now for numerous years and has gained tremendous popularity across the country and throughout the world. Similar to skiing, a snowboarder wears snowboarding boots that are firmly held into boot bindings. The bindings are rigidly attached to the board to allow the user to properly maneuver the board when riding. Different from skiing, however, the snowboarder places both feet onto a single board, one in front of the other, and stands at an angle to the direction of travel.
A snowboarder will often desire to change the angle of the front and/or back foot with respect to the longitudinal axis of the board. Different angular foot positions are desired for speed, slalom, free-style or acrobatics. Depending on the snow or weather conditions, the person's skill level, or the particular attitude of a given snowboarder, the position of each foot can change numerous times during a single outing.
In the case of a skateboard or surfboard, changing foot positions is easy--just pick up a foot and move it. With a snowboard, however, the rider's feet are rigidly mounted into the bindings, preventing any such movement. Before the present invention, there was not a snowboard boot binding that was rigidly attached to the board, but that could be adjusted to any angle quickly and easily, without the need for tools.
At present, in order for a snowboarder to adjust the angle of either foot, the boot must be removed from the binding and a tool must be used to make the adjustment. An example of this is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,689 to Carpenter et al. Where the adjustment requires the loosening of screws, the snowboarder runs the significant risk of losing screws and, along with them, the ability to ride at all. The rider also runs the risk of stripping the head of the screw, preventing future adjustments until the screw can be removed.
A snowboarder without the required tool must ride to the bottom of the mountain in order to make adjustments. Each trip to the bottom of the mountain wastes valuable snowboarding time. If an adjustment is not correct, the snowboarder must return to the bottom of the mountain to make a correction.
One attempt at remedying this problem is shown at U.S. Pat. No. 5,345,088 to Vetter et al. While improving the technology by allowing a snowboarder to quickly disengage the binding from the board, this invention is restricted in that the angular positioning of the foot is limited to a few angles. In order to adjust the foot position to most angles, the boot must be removed from the binding and the binding must be adjusted with a tool, as in the case of the Carpenter invention above.